Your current treatment options include radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy. In many cases, a combination of two or even three different types of treatments are used to ensure that all cancerous cells are removed from your organs. When you undergo various types of treatment in your treatment plan, it is referred to as “multimodal.”

Treatments that are the most successful and have resulted in the patients going into remission is catching the disease in its early stages and using aggressive treatment.

Treatment Options

Surgery

The main purpose of surgery is to remove cancerous tumors and to provide the patient with pain-relief. The surgeries tend to be long, and recovery can take several weeks. In addition to removing the tumors, portions of the organs are sometimes removed as well.

Chemotherapy

Although heated chemotherapy has been a controversial aspect of mesothelioma treatment, it’s an important factor in the treatment. The chemotherapy is the only way to ensure that the microscopic cancerous cells that remain following surgery are removed. Chemotherapy has been an effective form of treatment during each stage of mesothelioma cancer.

Radiation

Mesothelioma treatments can involve the use of radiation both before and after surgery. When used before the surgery, the radiation is designed to shrink the tumors. After the surgery, the radiation is designed to help remove any cancerous cells that still remain in the body.

Multimodal Treatments

Studies indicate that aggressive multimodal treatments that combine the powerful forces of both radiation and heated chemotherapy have done a great deal to improve the life expectancy of patients with mesothelioma cancer.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are always underway. The hope is that one of the clinical trials will lead to an even more effective way to treat mesothelioma. Several current promising clinical trials include research into the use of gene therapy, immunotherapy treatments, and even photodynamic therapy.

Alternative Therapies

Many patients find symptomatic relief during their treatment regimens from alternative or homeopathic remedies such as acupuncture or yoga. While these regimens provide little benefit against the disease, they can help improve a patient’s comfort and quality of life. Be sure to discuss these options with your doctor, as some remedies may interfere with your treatment plan rather than support it.

Pleural Treatment: Extrapleural Pneumonectomy

Patients who have been diagnosed at an early stage of mesothelioma are eligible for this type of treatment. The treatment is intense and involves the removal of the cancerous portions of lungs, as well as the removal of the pleura which lines the lungs and a section of the diaphragm.

Patients who have been recently diagnosed with mesothelioma that’s in its early stages have enjoyed a great deal of success when they’ve undergone extrapleural pneumonectomy. With more than 30 years of experience, he has used his revolutionary treatment to extend the lives of thousands of patients.

The Treatment Process

• Pre-operative Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
• Extrapleural Pneumonectomy Surgery & Chemotherapy
• Adjuvant Chemotherapy & IMRT Radiation Therapy

61.2% of all patients who took advantage of his extrapleural pneumonectomy enjoyed a life expectancy that was two years longer than anticipated prior to his treatment.

Intrapleural Chemotherapy

In many cases, it’s suggested that patients get a cisplatin injection which is designed to remove any cancerous cells that weren’t removed during the surgery. The medication is quite strong. A chest catheter is used to administer it.

Postoperative Treatment

Chemotherapy is a regular part of the treatment. What differs is the exact chemotherapy medication used which is altered depending on patient response.

A study conducted by Dr. Anne Tsao revealed that 13% of patients who underwent EPP multimodal treatment had a local recurrence of their mesothelioma, while more than 50% experience distant recurrence.

Pleurectomy with Decortication Mesothelioma Treatment

Dr. Robert Cameron developed a treatment, pleurectomy with decortication. It is the only form of treatment for pleural mesothelioma that doesn’t require the removal of a portion of the lung, which has made it a very popular form of treatment. While the lungs are spared, Pleurectomy with decortication does require that the removal off the diseased lining surrounding the lungs.

Pleurectomy with Decortication Treatment Procedure

• Pre-operative Neoadjuvant chemotherapy
• Pleurectomy Surgery and Chemotherapy
• Post-operative Adjuvant Chemotherapy

In most cases, Dr. Cameron’s patients will need to undergo 4 weeks of chemotherapy treatment in order to remove microscopic cancerous cells from developing into future tumors. In some cases, some of the patients are encouraged to go through a chemotherapy process before surgery in an attempt to shrink the size of the initial tumors, which makes it easier to remove the tissue during the surgery and can also decrease post-surgery recovery time.

Peritoneal Treatment: Cytoreduction with HIPEC

The Sugarbaker Procedure was developed by Dr. Paul Sugarbaker and is an effective means of treating peritoneal mesothelioma in the abdomen. In addition to using cytoreductive surgery, the Sugarbaker Procedure also uses intraoperative heated chemotherapy which has proven to be a very effective method for removing any cancerous tissue that remains after surgery, increasing the patient’s life expectancy.

Stages of the Sugarbaker Procedure

• Pre-Operative Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

• Cytoreduction Surgery and HIPEC Chemotherapy

• Post-Operative radiation and Adjuvant Chemotherapy

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials

The medical community is constantly engaged in developing experimental therapies. Gene therapy is one of the newest experimental therapies currently being explored as a possible treatment for mesothelioma. Researchers hope that they can take cancerous organ cells, repair them, and convert them into healthy cells.

Alternative remedies are also growing in popularity among mesothelioma communities. While they do not impact the disease directly, they can help with symptoms and comfort during treatment regiments.

Emerging Treatments

The medical community is constantly engaged in developing experimental therapies. Gene therapy is one of the newest experimental therapies currently being explored as a possible treatment for mesothelioma. Researchers hope that they can take cancerous organ cells, repair them, and convert them into healthy cells.

Photodynamic Therapy

Researchers hope to be able to use light sourced oxygen to kill mesothelioma cells. This experimental treatment is called photodynamic therapy. A recent study showed that individuals who participated in photodynamic therapy clinics lived anywhere from 31.4 to 41.2 months longer than those who didn’t partake in the experimental treatment.

Immunotherapy

Medical professionals devoted to helping patients with mesothelioma are currently very excited about immunotherapy which is a treatment that stimulates the immune system and encourages it to attack any mesothelioma cells currently in the body’s organs and organ lining. Immunotherapy shows promise when used to treat patients who have not experienced a positive response to chemotherapy.